blackwhalegroupblackwhalegroup // An idea studio focused on converging the physical with the digital and digitizing our physical reality. We look for the white space in trends, conversations, and industries and capitalize on opportunities that others might not see; or are too afraid to take a stand and dream.

True Crowdsourcing: Direction, Facilitation & Collaboration

As we are closing in on tapping into our collaborative community for another client-partner project, I’m reminded about how many variables go into success of a project. Not only is there the whole time and budget things to worry about, but the creativity, functionality, experience, usability, brand consistency, message elicitation, emotional connectedness, etc. that we have to think about.

A lot of ins and a lot of outs with any project, especially one that is thrown to a community for crowdsourced elaboration and collaboration.

The preparation for success is just as important for the actual execution of success within the realm of crowdsourcing or co-creation. From our perspective, true crowdsourcing depends on 3 things:

Direction: Starting with the problem and working backwards to solve can lead to some very in depth preliminary discussions and mandatories to include in any project. By diving deep into the problems, external variables, and brand mandatories, we can kick any crowdsourced project off with the right direction. If you look across the success of the advertising industry as a whole, the more information we have to brief any creative process the better the output. We develop in depth, highly interactive briefs that, not only elicit direction, put provides guidelines to stay within during the collaborative process of the crowd. We believe that true creativity is built upon a foundation of rules. Without rules we get chaos which deters success.

Facilitation: Interpretation is the backbone to what it is we do every day as marketers and communicators. If we are misinterpreted, our message is lost. This is why facilitation is such a big function of True Crowdsourcing. By allowing the opportunity for open feedback and dialog, as well as monitoring conversations and discussions that happen within the crowd during the project allows us to continue to reinforce the issues we are solving or the essence of the brand to ensure the best possible creative output from the community.

Collaboration: Finally collaboration. By opening up the dialog during the entire process between each individual and blackwhalegroup as well as each other, we see the growth of ideas. This is where the true magic happens. By beginning with a foundational direction, the creative community can elaborate and expand on ideas, which in turn develop new ideas that are expanded upon until the best possible creative messages emerge.

Some may say that true crowdsourcing is simply opening up creativity to the masses with no direction, allowing for completely open thinking and creativity. However, putting a strategy in place and a reason for the creative provides the solutions that we need for success. By following the 3 rules each and every time we approach a project, we know we are doing our due diligence for the successes of our clients.

putting a strategy in place and a reason for the creative provides the solutions that we need for success

I’m a big fan of crowdsourcing (LOL, my brweosr is telling me the word doesn’t exist), but often the crowd is unaware. When in a creativity meeting (there’s an oxymoron) I find that the best thing to contribute is my listening skills. The answer to most conundrums is typically in the minds of those involved already, just waiting to be dislodged and duly noted.

During the month of July we borrowed and moved reinrdcog gear and our instruments into the basement of a friend’s house and into our living rooms. We shared meals, laughter and frustrations—but above all we shared a love for making music that moves us and others.